Wing float



E. J. W. RAGSDALE WING FLOAT Jul 23, 1935.

Filed May 12, 1952 3 I 9 I 1- HIIHM, w 4 2 Z 8 mm 4 2 H 6 vxv L. \l I F-ib mu. 6 F- 7. 3

K m m N I V Patented July '23, 1935 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE neri J.mm gzm 1a., asllgnorto Edward G. Budd Manufacturing Company,Philadelphia, Pal, a corporation of Pennsyl- Vania and particularthereof.

Application May 12, 193:, Serial No. 610,780 12 Claims. (a. zu-z) Myinvention, relates to flying-boat structures ly to floats for supportingthe wings The objects of my invention include the provision of a wingfloat which shall be constructed substantially entirely of metal, thatshall be strong and of light weight and that shall have its partsparticularly constructed to facilitatespot welding. Other objectsinclude the provision of a float that shall offer substantially aminimum resistance to wind and water, that shall be water-tight andrust-proof and that shall have other advantages incident thereto.

Flying boats have heretofore, been constructed wings for the water, butsuch floats, to the best of my knowledge, have been constructed ofmaterials subject to rust and disintegration, with the result that theybecame uncertain and dangerous in character, unlessfrequently inspected,and entailed the 'troubleand expense of renewal, be sides having otherobjections. v

In practicingmy invention, I provide a float of hollow-shell characterhaving an outer sheathing of extremely thin-gauge stainless steel and aninternal frame, preferably also of stainless steel, particularly adaptedto mount the float on a wing and to reinforce the float against forwardand downward impact forces, and other features, as will hereinafterappear.

This structure is permanent solar as rusting, rotting and other effectsof time, wear and weath- 81 are 0011681118 disposed laterally outwardlyon the supporting the same, while resting ond, and is a substantialadvance in Figure 2 is an enlarged sectional view, taken substantiallyalong the line 2-2 of Figure 1,

Figure 3 is an enlargeddetailed view of a portion of the device shown inthe upper right hand corner of Fig. 2, showing also,

a portion. of a wing to which the device is attached, and

. Figured is an structure.

The device comprises, in general, a top well i, a bottom wall 2, sidewalls longitudinal side and bottom exterior view of the assembled 3,laterally-spaced stringers l and 5 respectively, transverse framemembers 8, central longitudinal bottom beams I and 8, a forward uprightsupport 9 and amain supportincluding a pair of front beams 80 and a pairof rear beams.

means for the relatively extensive thin sheets 3.

The side walls 3 are preferably constructed of continuous sheet form,from the rear, along one side, slightly curved about the bow i2 andalong the other side to a rear edge I, where the ends of the sides arespot welded together in flat sideby-side relation. Top and bottom edgestringers II and II, respectively, of L-section, follow the contour ofthe meeting edges of the top and side walls for which they constituteangle braces be-' tween the sides 4 and portionscf the top and 10 bottomwalls projecting outwardly beyond the sides. I

The top and bottom wall members i and 2 substantially conform inperimetral contour to the horizontal-plane contour of'the stream-linesides: the bottom wall 2 curving forwardly and upwardly from a positionbetween its mid and aft sections, and the parts i, 2, 3, ll, l5 and Itbeing spot welded to each other. Also, the top .wall I conforms to thebottom contour of the 2 wing on which it is mounted to provide asymmetrical closed structure and to ensure against interference, orlocalized stresses, between the float and the wing. I

The side stringers 4, of channel section, are 5 spot welded to thesides, in bottom engagement therewith and in free floating relationthereon, thatis, they are not attached to any other part of the float,and they serve solely as, stiffening Under normal service conditionswhen the flyboat, on which the float is mounted, descends to. the water,it does so at a forward-anddownward angle, in view of which, the.elements a to II, inclusive, are arranged to resist the impact forcesresulting therefrom. That is, the

frame is arranged to have its major bracing efshapes, rather than havethese parts conformto 6Q i the curved contour of the bottom wall, thebeams l and I are disposed substantially alongchords of the bottnm-wallcurve and are connected to the bottom'wall, between the ends of thebeams "I and l, by the transverse frames 6, gussets V-shape as viewed inbetween the longitudinal center and the transverse beams, and gussetsl9, between the transverse beams and the longitudinal bottom strin ers.f

The gussets l1 and I9 are each of thin sheet metal bent to channel-shapehaving tapering sides providing spot-welding side-wall areasat thedeeper end of the channel and a spot-welding bottom-wall area at theshallow end of the channel; the gussets l'l being of varying dimensionsto adjustably fit the straight beams I and 8 to the curve of the bottom2.

The transverse frames or beams 6, of channel or box section, aresupported, from above, only at the centers thereof, by the beams 1 and 8from which the beams 9, Ill and II project upwardly to positions at theintersections of the top and side walls of the float; the beams 9, I0and H being also of channel or box section. The arrangement of the beamsl0 and H provides an angle brace of substantially V-shape in transversecontour as viewed in Fig. 2, and of inverse Fig. 1, providingsubstantial transverse and longitudinal support above and below,respectively.

There are two of the front upright beams 9 also, arranged in V-relationin a vertical transverse plane of the float.

Plate gussets 20 of substantially V-shape are spot welded to thelower-end transverse sides of the beams of each pair of beams in and IIand plate gussets 22 are spot welded to the outer sides of the beams l0and H and to the inner sides of the channel-section beams l and 8.

Adjacent to the cover I, the beams l0 meet the beams II to which theyare secured by gussets 24 each having portions spot welded in flatsideengagement with the side wall 3 and with the transverse sides of thebeams l0 and II. Exterior gussets 26 are each of substantially channelsection and have a bottom wall 21 connected to the beams i0 and H andspot welded to the gussets 24, through the walls 3 and the gussets 2%.The gussets 26 each have a closed-end wall 28 for attachment to a mainsupporting frame or rear spar 30 of a flying boat Wmg 32, and sidessloping from the closed end 28 toward the opposite end of the gussetwhich is open. The forward upright support 9 is similarly secured andbraced at its upper and lower ends, and adapted for attachment to thefront spar.

The structure is remarkable in the simplicity of its outer surface,having no rods, bars or other small parts but being constitutedsubstantiallyentirely of expansive smooth contoured stream line andimpact surfaces. By eliminating up; right braces for the side walls andsubstituting therefore the floating braces l, the number of parts andthe weight are substantially reduced, without the sacrifice of necessarystrength.

The arrangement of the beams 1 and 8 whereby, although they are standardstraight beams, they support the curved bottom 2, the center sup portfor the longitudinal center bottom beams, the inverse V-structure of theframe, the arrangement of parts whereby they are connected almostexclusively by spot welding, the employment of stainless steel, andother features, render the device particularly durable, proof againstdeterioration, effective in operation and an improvement generally inthe art to which it relates.

While I have shown and described a particular form of my invention,changes may be effected therein without departing from the spirit andtudinally curved scope thereof, as set forth in the appended claims.

I claim as my invention:

1. In combination, in a flying boat, a wing, and a float including outerside and bottom-wall sheathings, a frame including a beam interceptingthe side-wall sheathing adjacent to the top edge thereof, and securingmeans including a gusset secured to the beam through the sheathing andto a wing spar.

2. In combination, in a flying boat,.a wing, and a float having a topwall sheathing conforming to, and closely fitting, the under side of thewing, a side wall sheathing of stream-line contour, a frame having aportion adjacent to the intersection of said top and side walls, and agusset connected to the wing spar and to said frame portion through saidside-wall sheathing.

3. A flying-boat wing float comprising side sheathing extendingcontinuously from an aft edge, forward on one side, about the bow andaft on the other side to provide another edge in side-by-side relationto said first edge.

4. A flying boat wing float including sheathing comprising a.transversely flat top sheet, a longibut transversely flat bottom sheet,and side sheathing connecting the top and bottom sheets, extendingcontinuously from a vertical aft edge forward on one side, about the bowand aft on the other side to provide another edge in side by siderelation to the flrst edge.

5. A flying boat wing float comprising a sheathing constituting alongitudinally-curved transversely flat bottom wall, an inner supportincluding rigid transverse bottom beams spaced fore and aft, and meanssupporting said beams only at the centers including a rigid bottomelement extending along a chord of the curve, and thin sheet side wallsdisposed in freely suspended position between the top and bottom of thefloat on said inner support.

6. In combination, wing structure including inner supporting means, anda hollow-body float including a rigid inner support of V-section viewedaft secured atits upper ends to said wing supporting means, a rigidhorizontal cross brace at the bottom of said section, and thin sheetside walls secured to said section and to said brace in freely suspendedrelation therebetween.

7. A flying-boat wing float comprising a= angularly relatedsubstantially V-proflles inverted relative to each other, the V-framesterminating at the bottom on the central portion of the bottom framemembers and at the top along the sides of the float in the regions ofjoinder to a wing.

5. In combination, in a flying boat, a wing, and a float including asheathing having a transversely flat bottom wall and side walls freelysuspended between top and bottom edge margins thereof, a frame embodyinga central bottom beam and upwardly extending beams between said bottombeam and the sides of the float disposed longitudinally in substantiallyV-relation having their upper ends secured to a wing spar therealong.

9. In combination, in a flying boat, a wing including a spar, and afloat including a frame embodying beams depending from the wing spar atspaced positions therealong and diagonally join- '40 in a flying boat, ahollow ing the wing spar with a longitudinal bottom center beam, saidbeam ending short by a substantial distance from one end of the float,and transverse frames on the center beam supporting the bottom wall ofthe float.

10. A wing float comprising a frame including a longitudinal centerbottom beam, a fore support of transverse v-shape, and an aft support oflongitudinal inverse V-sliape and transverse v-shape, each of saidsupports bracing the center beam to a point on the float for connectionwith a wing spar.

11. A flying boat wing float comprising a sheathing including freelysuspended side andtransversely flat bottom walls, and a frame includingtransverse members on the bottom wall,

a longitudinal central member secured to said transverse members, theremainder of the frame having a frame connection to the transversemembers only through said central member and extending to points ofconnection with a wing spar.

12. A flying boat 'wing float comprising a sheathing including freelysuspended upwardly converging side and transversely flat bottom walls,and aframe ending short of an end of the float by a substantial distanceand including 1ongitudinal bottom stringers, transverse beams on thestringers, a longitudinal center beam on said transverse beams, andmembers extending upwardly from the center beam to points of connectionto a wing spar and constituting the only frame bracing for the frameparts the'rebelow.

- EARL J. W. RAGSDALE.

